ONH admits Patrick Crossan shooting

DISSIDENT republican group Oglaigh na hEirenn has said it was responsible for shooting a

man jailed for his part in the murder of a west Belfast greengrocer.

Patrick Crossan was shot in the leg in the Turf Lodge area of the city last Wednesday.

The 24-year-old was abducted at gunpoint from a house by masked men and taken to an area of waste ground.

Following the shotgun attack, one of the men involved escaped on foot while the others left the scene in a car.

While Crossan's injuries are not life-threatening, it is understood his leg was badly mutilated.

Using a recognised codeword, Oglaigh na hEireann said it was responsible for shooting Crossan, accusing him of attempting to "slip unnoticed back into the community".

Mr Holland, a popular father-of-four who owned a fruit and vegetable shop on the Glen Road, died after being stabbed in the head with a screwdriver outside his home in Norfolk Drive while trying to stop a gang stealing his delivery van in 2007.

Crossan was originally charged with murder but was instead sentenced to four years for affray and possession of a knife.

In 2010 he was jailed for a further three years for a catalogue of offences committed within weeks of being freed from prison.

Speaking to The Irish News last week, Mr Holland's sister Geraldine McAteer said she was opposed to "shotgun justice".

"Nobody should be taking it upon themselves to shoot anyone. What we really need is an effective judicial and policing system," she said.